1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electronic driving devices, and particularly to a driving device for driving discharge lamps such as those of a flat panel display device.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) have been commonly used as a light source of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. When an LCD panel is large, the CCFLs need to be correspondingly long. However, elongated CCFLs frequently produce non-uniform distribution of brightness and temperature, electronic noise, or other problems. Therefore, CCFLs are gradually being replaced by other light sources such as planar light sources.
Like the CCFL, a typical planar light source is a kind of discharge lamp. However, the planar light source has a simple structure, uniform brightness, good temperature stability, and a long working lifetime. Consequently, CCFLs are frequently being replaced by planar light sources as the light source of choice for large LCD panels.
The method of driving a planar light source is different from that of the CCFL, since the planar light source and the CCFL have different structures and characteristics. Typically, the CCFL is driven by a sine waveform voltage. However, a planar light source is driven by a high pulse-voltage sequence. That is, a high pulse-voltage is applied to xenon gas contained in the planar light source, ultraviolet (UV) radiation is generated by the xenon gas, and the UV radiation is converted to visible light by reacting with fluorescent materials.
What is needed is to provide a driving device for driving discharge lamps such as those of a flat panel display device.